The Speed Fetus

It's safe to say few bikes are more polarizing than Lock Baker's Speed Fetus. The owner of Eastern Fabrications describes his creation best.

My inspiration for the Speed Fetus came from the Japanese. I have been a fan of Japanese bike builders for some time, and this is my attempt at making an exageration out of their style which I feel is essentially an exageration of ours. I wanted to mix as many old motorcycle components as possible, without it looking confused or out of place. The copper plating and acid treating was to help achieve an antique look, to match the antique parts. The tank design is what I would consider an extremely exagerated Sportster tank. The throttle assembly is the third version. I have been experimenting with this concept for a while now and think that this is the best so far. The name "Speed Fetus" came from the fact that the bike is very fast for a knuckle, and because it has a frail, under-developed look to it.

Hardly an art bike, Lock's machine is a rider, and one most people either love or hate. That's just fine with him. Regardless of your personal take on this motorcycle, the craftsmanship and clever thinking can not be ignored, nor should it. While the handmade tank is clearly Lock's focal point, the truly magnificent details are in its small bits and pieces. Take the grips and bird deflector, for instance. No bolt-on CNC stuff here, nor cast alloy, for that matter. These grips may look like carved wood, but they are actually made of laminated and shaved leather. Who does this kind of stuff? Lock Backer does, and he does it well.

With the leverage that usually gets applied to apes, everyone knows they can slip in the risers. Lock solved that problem, too. Enjoy the third mounting point on the center of the bars, complete with an adjuster for putting them in just the right spot. Clearly, original and clever engineering is the central theme here, not just freaking out the squares with a funky tank and calling it "Japstyle" or whatever buzzword might fit.

definitely a WTF bike, your eye naturally goes to the bizarre- but the close up of the parts is awesome!! i love the way they look like they were formed by holding them in your hand and just rubbing them everyday for 50yrs or more

I dig the finish work on the metal and the rear wheel is cool. That being said, I personally feel like the bike, on the whole, is a complete abortion. To me, there is nothing at all appealing about the lines of the bike. The tank looks way too goofy on the and the rear fender placement is completely out of whack. TO MY EYE it is proof positive that you really can have too much of a good thing.

I dig the finish work on the metal and the rear wheel is cool. That being said, I personally feel like the bike, on the whole, is a complete abortion. To me, there is nothing at all appealing about the lines of the bike. The tank looks way too goofy on the and the rear fender placement is completely out of whack. TO MY EYE it is proof positive that you really can have too much of a good thing.

I love the risers and all of the cast bronze parts rock but my favorite part of this bike is the throttle... what the hell is going on there? It reminded me of an old atv throttle as well and I'm vaguely attracted to it, no, not vaguely... I want one! But wait, there's more... what about the tool bag? Truly a unique design there... at least I've never seen anything like that. Can we get more info on the throttle setup and bag... por favor??? This bike has some of the coolest details I've seen in a while!

Ya lots of cool parts that i really dig...but cool parts cant hide just how Ugly as Fuck this thing is. Another OCC original?? Might as well put a bug light on the gas tank,,,cause all it does is catch bugs.

While I love the craftmanship, I think there's too much going on with this bike. I think a few cool, custom parts on one bike is enough, when there's too much going on I think it takes away from it. That being said, this guy is a true fabricator and artist.

Some people get shit for making their bike look to different from the "NORM" = stripped down cycle with no bells and whistles. It's okay to rock out fabrication vision. E fab's vision is cool. All fab parts equals the sum of the whole. No wasted motorcycle parts here that I can see but that's just my F-ing opinion and who cares about that anyway. Rock on with hates and likes. It's all good!

people are gonna be negative no matter where you go in life.But here people talk shit about this bike cuz it dont have z bars ,a sporty frisco fucking tank and cuz it dont look like every other flannel and van wearing mother fuckers bike on here

Shinya Kimura says that you can't really judge a bike until you see it complete
with the rider on it. True no doubt, and twice as true in the case of this bike ..
While it's being ridden I fear that it'd either look like the rider is trying to keep
the tank from flying off the bike or that the rider was having an inappropriate relationship with the tank. Like the tank was a "man lure" not a fishing lure!!

"Thinking outside the box' is a good and necessary thing,and art and science can't advance without it. But the artist should remember that sometimes there's a good reason that something hasn't been done before.

Its funny to hear all the"Fucking Ugly " comments. A lot of folks just don't get it. I fukin love this thing! Its not my style either but id ride the shit out of it. Lock is a rad dude and probably has more fab, creation and engineering skills than all of us on chopcult combined. Yeah its definitely diffenent looking but theres nothing wrong with different. Especially when the craftsmanship is top notch. Locks bikes are functional art at its finest. All the crazy ass pieces work and work well. He rides the shit out of these things. Not to bad for someone with only a manual mill and lathe. Not to mention his ole lady Hy fukin rules too. She does all his leather work and makes some mind blowing jewelry.
http://heyltjerose.com/#/client/template.xml?aaa=h...

While I realize that in custom design form often trumps function (apes,for
example) i'm starting to get purely mechanical questions about mounting
a tank this way.. Gas tanks are always mounted at several points, and with
the largest dimension of the tank parallel to the ground. Both things done to
reduced torque forces on the mounts..This one's just the opposite, so the
mount would have to be heavily over-engineered to make it secure.

gotta say i saw this bike from across the parking lot and didn't really pay it another glance...after seeing all the details in the pics you took I wish I had...not my style but super super cool parts non the less

Those risers are hella cool. God forbid Lock Baker should want his bike to look like his bike. I can see the japanese influence. The shops in the land of the setting sun make some rad stuff proof that the samurai mastered the riddle of steel. I like it as much as I liked Ed Roths cars the first time I laid eyes on them and I'm sure someone told him that his cars weren't there thing. Its very phalic a big erection blasting down the road I hope mothers cover there childrens eyes when it rolls by.

This bike should make you want to be a better builder and challenge your self. Can you match the skills that it took to build this bike? Is your bike hand made or did you buy everything and bolt it on? Negative feed back on a bike like this must mean you have no skills and you are simple minded.

Anyone who is hating on this bike doesn't really understand what "cool" is.
If you cant get why Lock didn't open the custom chrome book to the coveted page 69, or why he didn't just walk his ass down to the weekly so. cal swap meet to buy the "sickest" Bates seat or pot metal sissy bar than you shouldn't be posting comments about how this bike is an abortion.

Building motorcycles should be about setting the bar for the next builder. Creating something that inspires others to push the limits and launch a new era of chopper; not assembling a pile of parts stick welded together buy a bunch of hippie bikers in the sixties when you can create something so much cooler, fresher and (try and wrap you heads around this one) with your own hands, skills and vision?

I saw the bike at the 2009 Brooklyn Invatational show and could not stop looking at it. Totally made me step up my game. Lots of builders there were gauking over it. Love or hate it you have to admit the man has talant.